Marquette Holds Off Charging Kingsford for 1-Point Finals Victory
By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2022
KINGSFORD — The Marquette boys retained their Upper Peninsula Division 1 track & field championship here Saturday, as they squeezed past the Kingsford Flivvers 138-137.
The Houghton Gremlins placed third with 56 points.
Marquette held a three-point lead heading into the day’s final race, the 1,600-meter relay.
Kingsford won it in 3 minutes, 35.29 seconds, but Marquette secured the team title by placing second (3:36.01).
Marquette junior Carson VanderSchaaf set a UPD1 record in the 3,200 at 9:46.53 seconds, shaving more than three seconds off the old mark (9:50.03) by Lance Rambo of Marquette in 2015.
VanderSchaaf also took the 1,600 (4:23.45), followed by his twin brother Colin (4:28.46) for Marquette, which also won the 3,200 relay (8:32.36) on a sunny and warm day at Flivver Field.
Colin VanderSchaaf later took the 800 (2:00.79). He was followed by Houghton senior Eric Weiss (2:03.18) and teammate Cullen Papin (2:03.77).
Weiss was also runner-up in the 3,200 (10:07.12) and third in the 1,600 (4:37.2).
Cayden Dahlen provided Marquette with a first in discus (139-8), and Sam Markey captured the 110 hurdles (16.64)
Kingsford showed its depth in the sprints with Michael Floriano taking second in the 100 (11.51), followed by Diego Przeslakowski (11.67) and Cardel Morton (11.81).
Floriano then won the 200 (23.12), edging teammate Trestan Larson by two hundredths of a second.
Przeslakowski added a first in the 300 hurdles (40.76), and the Flivvers took the 400 relay (44.2) and 800 (1:33.22).
Kingsford’s Lucas Tappy won shot put (47-1) and Cole Myllyla gained top honors in long jump at 20 feet, 2¾ inches with Marquette’s Tyranon Dahlin runner-up at 20-1¼.
Calumet’s Dryden Nelson captured the 100 (11.37) and placed third in the 200 (23.39), and Houghton’s Cade Holombo took the 400 (51.39), edging Morton by one tenth of a second.
Menominee senior Brady Schultz retained his high jump title at 6-7 after also setting the meet and his school’s record at 6-8 at last year’s UPD1 Finals.
Schultz added an inch this spring to his former school record leap, soaring 6-9 at the Marinette, Wis., Invitational on May 9.
Ishpeming Westwood had an individual champion in pole vault as Lenny Pizziola jumped 12 feet to edge Sault Ste. Marie’s Jackson Gervasio by six inches.
Marquette's Jim Bennett and Sault Ste. Marie's Johnny Osborn competed in the first-time adaptive races. Bennett won the 100 (24.31), 200 (47.52) and 400 (1:39.74), and also competed in shot put (13-4).
PHOTOS: (Top) On the second corner of the final lap of the 3,200 relay, Houghton's Eric Weiss, Marquette's Carson VanderSchaaf, and Sault Ste. Marie's Jonathan Willis are neck-in-neck. Marquette's VanderSchaaf was able to hold off Houghton's Weiss for second place, and Sault Ste. Marie's Willis took third. Other members of the winning Marquette team were James Kraeg, Adam White, and Braden Ketzenberger. (Middle) Kingsford's Trestan Larson starts the winning 800 relay. Teammates included Brody Kopp, Michael Meneguzzo, and Diego Przeslakowski. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/Run Michigan.)
Performance of the Week: Pickford's David Kozisek
June 9, 2023
David Kozisek ♦ Pickford
Senior ♦ Track & Field
Kozisek was an exchange student from Czech Republic this school year, and when he returns home this week he'll do so having accomplished a rare feat in MHSAA track & field history. On Saturday he became the ninth male athlete to win four individual events at a Finals, taking first in the 110 hurdles (15.40), 300 hurdles (41.39), high jump (6-3) and long jump (20-10) in helping Pickford to the Upper Peninsula Division 2 team championship.
After also playing football and basketball for the Panthers, Kozisek joined the track & field team this spring with plenty of knowledge having competed in that sport over the last six years in his home country. He was incredibly close to leaving an even larger historical imprint last weekend; Kozisek's long jump and high jump both were just one inch off tying UPD2 Finals records, and his 110 time missed that meet record by only six hundredths of a second. He was the first to win four boys events with the combination of two hurdles races and two jumps, and the second four-time individual winner joining Joe Baker, who in 1974 became the first from any school to win four Finals events.
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2022-23 Honorees
June 1: Helena McLellan, Northville soccer - Report
May 25: Mitchel Luck, Linden lacrosse - Report
May 18: Ahava Le Febre, Holland tennis - Report
May 11: Gracie Maloney, Macomb Dakota softball - Report
May 4: Braxton Brann, Ann Arbor Huron track & field - Report
April 27: Owen Patton, Vestaburg track & field - Report
April 20: Lilly Damm, Millington softball - Report
April 13: Larissa Huffman, Mackinaw City track & field - Report
April 6: Darius Acuff, Detroit Cass Tech basketball - Report
March 23: Regan Finkbeiner, Hemlock basketball - Report
March 16: Alaina Yaney, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Report
March 9: Braeden Davis, Dundee wrestling - Report
March 2: Gabriel Sanchez-Burks, Ann Arbor Pioneer swimming - Report
Feb. 23: Grace Sobczak, Marquette swimming - Report
Feb. 16: Kaitlynn Demers, Gibraltar Carlson competitive cheer - Report
Feb. 9: Indya Davis, West Bloomfield basketball - Report
Feb. 2: Braydon Sorenson, Onekama skiing - Report
Jan. 26: Shayna Hruska, Iron Mountain wrestling - Report
Jan. 19: Kayla Tafanelli, Warren Woods-Tower bowling - Report
Dec. 20: Brenden Paden, Riverview Gabriel Richard hockey - Report
Dec. 16: Tuff Scott, Holton bowling - Report
Dec. 9: Macey Fegan, Standish-Sterling basketball - Report
Dec. 2: Treyton Siegert, Gladwin football - Report
Nov. 24: Lily Witte, Dexter diving - Report
Nov. 17: Navea Gauthier, Shelby volleyball - Report
Nov. 10: Derek Huisman, Holland Christian soccer - Report
Nov. 3: Thomas Westphal, New Baltimore Anchor Bay cross country - Report
Oct. 27: Justin Wickey, Colon football - Report
Oct. 20: Owen DeMuth, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood tennis - Report
Oct. 13: Mia Melendez, Ann Arbor Greenhills golf - Report
Oct. 6: Shawn Foster, Grand Ledge football - Report
Sept. 30: Hannah Smith, Temperance Bedford swimming - Report
Sept. 22: Helen Sachs, Holland West Ottawa cross country - Report
Sept. 15: Nina Horning, Lake Orion volleyball - Report
Sept 8: Arturo Romero, Muskegon Oakridge soccer - Report
Sept. 1: Austin King, Midland Dow tennis - Report
Aug. 25: Olivia Hemmila, Troy Athens golf - Report
PHOTOS courtesy of 2BU Photography.